Doc Savage, whose real name is Clark Savage, Jr., is a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and musician
May 27, 2008 9:27 AM Subscribe
The Man of Bronze. We've already thrilled to his magnificent covers, but pulp hero Doc Savage really existed in text. Therefore, The Groovy Age of Horror has done us the favor of working their way through the books of Doc Savage, providing in-depth reviews. Invaluable if you have ever considered purchasing The Sargasso Ogre or I Died Yesterday, but didn't know if it was worth it.
Doc Savage was always my favourite hero. I read the first Doc Savage pulp fiction before I read the comic books, I found my dad's old beat up copy when snooping around the house as a kid.
posted by substrate at 9:38 AM on May 27, 2008
posted by substrate at 9:38 AM on May 27, 2008
Invaluable if you have ever considered purchasing The Sargasso Ogre or I Died Yesterday, but didn't know if it was worth it.
But frustratingly silent on the all-important topic of "The Land of Long Juju."
posted by dersins at 9:56 AM on May 27, 2008
But frustratingly silent on the all-important topic of "The Land of Long Juju."
posted by dersins at 9:56 AM on May 27, 2008
Heh, I've been reading my way through my old Doc Savage collection recently. I brought "the Agate Devils" with me today to read on my commute - don't spoil the ending!
Watching the new Indiana Jones movie made me think that a Doc Savage movie could maybe work, but it would have to be set in the 30s/40s just like the original indy films.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 10:04 AM on May 27, 2008
Watching the new Indiana Jones movie made me think that a Doc Savage movie could maybe work, but it would have to be set in the 30s/40s just like the original indy films.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 10:04 AM on May 27, 2008
Best collection of misfit sidekicks EVAH. Also I once found the word clue spelled "cloo" in a Doc Savage book, which is totally awesome.
posted by Artw at 10:31 AM on May 27, 2008
posted by Artw at 10:31 AM on May 27, 2008
I love Doc Savage stories. If you can get past the "see spot run" level of writing, they're pretty cool. Lots of goofy crap and high action.
Point of note: they've (Conde Nast, I believe) re-released many of the stories in a format similar to the old pulps.
These new volumes even contain many (if not all) of the original b/w illustrations. I picked up the Fortress of Solitude at the Borders in downtown Boston when I was there in March. It's pretty good.
posted by C.Batt at 10:37 AM on May 27, 2008
Point of note: they've (Conde Nast, I believe) re-released many of the stories in a format similar to the old pulps.
These new volumes even contain many (if not all) of the original b/w illustrations. I picked up the Fortress of Solitude at the Borders in downtown Boston when I was there in March. It's pretty good.
posted by C.Batt at 10:37 AM on May 27, 2008
It's not Conde Nast that's doing those reprints (which would be awesome,) but an outfit called Nostalgia Ventures. If CN were doing them, they'd not have the godawful typography on the back that makes the volume look like something you'd pick up at a Stuckey's for $.99.
(I get the reprints as they come out and love the format, otherwise. I just read The Fortress of Solitude and The Devil Genghis a couple of weeks ago.)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 11:25 AM on May 27, 2008
(I get the reprints as they come out and love the format, otherwise. I just read The Fortress of Solitude and The Devil Genghis a couple of weeks ago.)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 11:25 AM on May 27, 2008
Watching the new Indiana Jones movie made me think that a Doc Savage movie could maybe work, but it would have to be set in the 30s/40s just like the original indy films.
they did make a Doc Savage movie once - it was crapola, with a capital CRAP - and that's how i felt when i saw it as a 10 year old Doc Savage fan - what a waste of a Saturday afternoon
posted by jammy at 11:30 AM on May 27, 2008
they did make a Doc Savage movie once - it was crapola, with a capital CRAP - and that's how i felt when i saw it as a 10 year old Doc Savage fan - what a waste of a Saturday afternoon
posted by jammy at 11:30 AM on May 27, 2008
Back when the ebook site "The Black Mask" existed, I loved downloading The Shadow and Doc Savage in iSilo format and taking them with me on my Palm.
Good times.
posted by willmize at 12:18 PM on May 27, 2008
Good times.
posted by willmize at 12:18 PM on May 27, 2008
I like to recommend King Joe Cay, a Doc Savage novel very different from the early, campy works. In it, Doc goes undercover (!) to infiltrate a criminal gang. None of the Fab Five are present, none of the dopey gadgets. Just the World's Smartest Man working his way up the criminal food chain. It's most interesting because it makes Clark Savage, Jr seem believable: resourceful, clever and full of self-deprecating good humor.
posted by SPrintF at 12:44 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by SPrintF at 12:44 PM on May 27, 2008
You know what clinched the deal for me when I was first getting to know my now-wife but then-girlfriend? When she invited me over to her place, and on her bookshelf she had a nearly complete set of the Bantam reprints. A girl who has nearly a hundred Doc Savage books on her bookshelf? That's the girl for me!
posted by Lokheed at 1:09 PM on May 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Lokheed at 1:09 PM on May 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
Artw, don't be sorry. I think I was taking Doc Savage a bit, um, seriously, when I was 10.
posted by jammy at 2:59 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by jammy at 2:59 PM on May 27, 2008
I kind of love the cheesy Doc Savage movie, sorry.
Best. Fight. Scene. Ever.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 4:59 PM on May 27, 2008
Best. Fight. Scene. Ever.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 4:59 PM on May 27, 2008
Sumo! Gung Fu! Tai Chichuan! er... jacket fighting! Karate! Bo Jitsu! Fisticuffs! Slow motion jumpy kick!
posted by Artw at 7:04 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by Artw at 7:04 PM on May 27, 2008
Doc Savage is why I learned as a kid all about the legal principle of Habeas Corpus.
Who said those pulps had no redeeming value?
posted by joelhunt at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2008
Who said those pulps had no redeeming value?
posted by joelhunt at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2008
This would probably be the thread to mention the redoutable Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes, coming soon from MonkeyBrain Press. Guaranteed to be a concentrated blast of awesome.
posted by zamboni at 10:48 PM on May 30, 2008
posted by zamboni at 10:48 PM on May 30, 2008
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